VIDEO: North Korea launches missile over Japan

North Korea launches missile over Japan

Zachary CohenCNN Digital Expansion Shoot, Joshua Berlinger

By Zachary Cohen and Joshua Berlinger, CNN

Updated 0114 GMT (0914 HKT) September 15, 2017

(CNN)North Korea has fired a ballistic missile over northern Japan for the second time in less than a month, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday.

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The unidentified ballistic missile was launched from the district of Sunan in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, home to the country's main airport, the South Korean military said.

The missile flew about 3,700 kilometers (2,300 miles) and reached an altitude of 770 kilometers (480) miles. It landed in the Pacific Ocean, South Korea said.

The US Pacific Command said its initial assessment indicated that North Korea had fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile. There were conflicting reports from Japan on the type of missile fired, though the government stressed that analysis was ongoing.

In response to North Korea's launch, South Korea carried out a "live fire drill" that included a missile launch which the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said was capable of striking the Sunan airport launch site near Pyongyang used for today's launch.

The South Korean missile, which was launched from the country's east coast, was "a show of force in response to North Korea's latest provocation," a South Korean official told CNN.

The weapon that makes N. Korea more dangerous 01:12

A government warning, known as the J-Alert, said that "a missile" had passed over Hokkaido, northern Japan, before landing in the Pacific, NHK reported. "The government is advising people to stay away from anything that could be missile debris," the broadcaster said.

Japan's Coast Guard said no damage has been reported by the fallen object.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the launch was "totally unacceptable" and went against "the international community's strong, united will for a peaceful solution."

The international community needs to unite and send clear message after North Korea's dangerous provocation," he said. "We must let North Korea understand there is no bright future for North Korea if it continues in this way."

He said the Japanese government tracked the launch of the missile and "took all possible measures."

South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a National Security meeting following the launch, according to an official at his office.

North Korea's last missile test, on August 29, was also fired from near the Pyongyang airport and overflew northern Japan.

US President Donald Trump has been briefed on the launch. When asked by a pool reporter about the launch Thursday evening Washington time at a dinner reception, Trump did not comment.

In a statement, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the missile test was the second time the people of Japan "have been directly threatened in recent weeks."

"These continued provocations only deepen North Korea's diplomatic and economic isolation," Tillerson said.

"United Nations Security Council resolutions, including the most recent unanimous sanctions resolution, represent the floor, not the ceiling, of the actions we should take. We call on all nations to take new measures against the Kim regime."

He singled out Chinese oil supplies and Russia's use of North Korean migrant workers as two areas in which the two countries could take "direct action" against North Korea.

Japan and the US have requested the UN Security Council hold "urgent consultations" at 3 p.m. ET Friday, according to the Ethiopian Mission to the UN. Ethiopian Ambassador Tekeda Alemu is the current UN Security Council president.

First launch since nuclear test

The launch came just hours after the rogue nation responded to the United Nations Security Council's unanimous approval of additional sanctions by threatening to "sink" Japan and reduce the US mainland into "ash and darkness."

Those sanctions were prompted by North Korea's sixth nuclear test that occurred on September 3, which Pyongyang said was a successful test of a hydrogen bomb.

That explosion created a magnitude-6.3 tremor, making it the most powerful weapon Pyongyang has ever tested.

The nuclear test prompted discussions inside South Korea about the the redeployment of US tactical nuclear weapons in the country, an idea that the majority of the country's citizens approve of, according to recent polls.

But on Thursday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in dismissed the possibility, warning it could "lead to a nuclear arms race in northeast Asia."

"We need to develop our military capabilities in the face of North Korea's nuclear advancement," he told CNN in his first televised interview since the nuclear test. "I do not agree that South Korea needs to develop our own nuclear weapons or relocate tactical nuclear weapons in the face of North Korea's nuclear threat. To respond to North Korea by having our own nuclear weapons will not maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula and could lead to a nuclear arms race in northeast Asia."

South Korea has been conducting its own military drills since the September 3 nuclear test. As the missile was launched Friday, the South Korean military was carrying out its own live-fire drill that involved launching a ballistic missile.

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